It may take more than 21 days or less to get a tax refund as per the guidelines by the IRS.
The exact timings of refunding the tax depends on certain factors, and in some cases it may take a longer process.
For how much time will I have to wait for a income tax refund?
There is no guarantee that you will receive your tax in 21 days, there are various factors that impact on your tax refund, like the choice you make while you are filing the tax.
The delivery option that you choose for your tax refund directly affects how quickly you receive your funds.
- According to the IRS, the fastest method to get your refund is combining the first deposit method with e-filing a tax return.
When you are Filing your Tax Refund with
- E – File with direct deposit-it will take 1-3 weeks
- Papers file with direct deposit- 3 weeks
- E- File with refund check in the mail – 6 -8 weeks
- Papers file with refund check in the mail – 6-8 weeks
Factors that Affects the Timing of your Refund
Beside the above mentioned factors, there are certain additional factors that slow the down the process of your tax refunds, such as errors, incomplete refunds or fraud.
- You may experience delays if you claim Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit. Under the PATH act of 2015, the IRS is required to hold tax returns for those who claimed those credits until Feb 15.
You can choose your way by your own self for getting your refund.
First way is you can ask for a direct deposit in your bank, it is one of the fastest ways you can receive your refund.
- The other option is Paper check sent through mail
- You can purchase upto $5000 In US Savings.
You need to check if you don’t receive your refund in 21 days. you need to find out what is taking so long. The reason behind it could be either your return was incomplete or incorrect. If such things happens,then the IRS may send you instructions through the mail if they need any extra additional information to continue your refund process.
If you haven’t received your refund, contacting IRS will be help, you can direct to ask them, Where’s My refund
Let’s Just Take a Look on Tracking the Progress of your Refund
There is an app called IRS2Go through which will help you to track the status of your return. Where’s My Refund is another online portal that will help with tracking the progress of your refund.
Both the tools help you for taxpayers 24 hours after a return is e-filed or four weeks after the IRS has received a paper return. For this you need to provide basic information I.e your social security number, Filing status and the exact amount of your return.
There are stages through which you can track your refund progress:
Return Received – Use IRS Where’s My refund tool for your return received notice. Once you see the Return received status, it shows that your IRS has started processing your tax return. Once when your IRS has finished processing your tax return and approving your tax refund you will only be able to see your refund dated list.
Refund Approved– Refund approved status should IRS has finished processing your tax return and has given a confirmation for your income tax refund.
Refund Approved– After refund approved status,you will get a personalized refund date in Where’s My refund? Tool. You can expect your refund within 3 weeks after e-filing with direct deposit.
When in Where’s My refund tool shows “refund sent” it means your money should have been sent to your financial institute.It will take another 1 to 5 days for your bank to deposit funds to your account.
Once your tax refund reaches the third stage, wait for your financial institution to process direct deposit or for a paper check to reach through the mail.
Consult hiring a tax professional if your tax refund is related to your sold property, paid business expenses, or earned investment or business income. An enrolled certified public accountant (CPA) will help you.
If you don’t have any online access tool, you can contact the IRS by phone to obtain the status of your refund.
Your financial institution plays a major role when you receive your refund. You can expect a delay in processing during weekends or holidays as some banks do not process financial institutions.
Whether you file your refund electronically or on paper, direct deposit is the fastest way you get your refund. IRS expects 90% to file the return ironically.